Closure mechanism for wipe dispenser

ABSTRACT

A closure mechanism for a wipe dispenser including a generally circular body having a plurality of tabs located on an exterior diameter of the body and configured to be removably coupled to a wipe dispenser. The body also has at least one opening located on an interior portion of the body. The at least one opening is configured to receive a wipe. A lid is hingedly coupled to the body. Wherein the closure mechanism is configured to be easily removed from the wipe dispenser to provide access to the wipe.

BACKGROUND

Disposable towels or wipes may be used in a variety of applications including, but not limited to, personal care for cleaning or wiping a portion of a person, medical applications such as in a hospital, testing or care facility, and agricultural applications such as in the farming industry. The towels or wipes may be either moistened or dry and may be used on the body of a person, on an animal, or on a surface.

Disposable towels or wipes are often formed as a continuous strip of material that is adapted to be separated into individual wipes by perforations extending laterally across the strip. Such traditional wipes are generally provided in a cylindrical roll and are dispensed by pulling the wipes from the inside or center of the roll. The roll is typically housed in a cylindrical container such as a 5-gallon plastic bucket. The container typically has an opening on one end through which the wipes are pulled. As the perforations clear the opening, the individual wipes can be separated from the strip by tearing the roll along the perforation.

However, there are several problems with such wipes and wipe dispensers. For instance, when a wipe is pulled from the container and separates from the roll at the perforation, the next wipe in the roll may not remain exposed through the opening in the container and instead may fall back into the container. This causes a user to have to open the container (e.g., by removing the lid from the plastic bucket) to retrieve the free end of the roll and thread it back through the opening in the container. It can often be difficult and time consuming to open the container and rethread the wipes through the cover. Additionally, the roll of wipes are often used repeatedly throughout the day; having to rethread the roll of wipes can represent a substantial amount of lost time for a worker and frustration. It would be advantageous to provide a wipe dispenser that addresses one or more of the problems described above.

SUMMARY

One embodiment relates to a closure mechanism for a wipe dispenser including a generally circular body having a plurality of tabs located on an exterior diameter of the body and configured to be removably coupled to a wipe dispenser. The body also has at least one opening located on an interior portion of the body. The at least one opening is configured to receive a wipe. A lid is hingedly coupled to the body and the closure mechanism is configured to be easily removed from the wipe dispenser to provide access to the roll of wipes.

Another embodiment relates to a cover for a wipe dispenser including a cover configured to be removably coupled to a wipe dispenser. A closure mechanism is removably coupled to the cover. The closure mechanism includes a generally circular body having at least one opening located on an interior portion of the body. The at least one opening is configured to receive a wipe. A lid is hingedly coupled to the body. The closure mechanism has a plurality of tabs provided on an exterior diameter of the body that are received within an opening in the cover. The closure mechanism can be easily removed from the cover to provide access to the interior of the wipe dispenser.

Another embodiment relates to a wipe dispenser having a closure mechanism including a bucket. A cover is removably coupled to the bucket and closure mechanism is removably coupled to the cover. The closure mechanism includes a generally circular body having at least one opening located on an interior portion of the body. The at least one opening is configured to receive a wipe. A lid is hingedly coupled to the body and the closure mechanism has a plurality of tabs that are received within an opening in the cover. The closure mechanism can be easily removed from the cover to provide access to the interior of the bucket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a an isometric view of a container for a roll of wipes including a closure mechanism according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a portion of the container of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the closure mechanism of FIG. 1 in a closed configuration.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the closure mechanism of FIG. 1 in an open configuration showing a wipe being dispensed through the closure mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a cross-section of the closure mechanism of FIG. 3 taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 6A-6C are sequential isometric views showing the closure mechanism of FIG. 3 being coupled to a container for holding a roll of wipes according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a top view of a body of the closure mechanism of FIG. 3 showing an opening for dispensing wipes according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a top view of a body of the closure mechanism of FIG. 3 showing an opening for dispensing wipes according to an alternative exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-8, a wipe dispenser 10 is shown according to an exemplary embodiment. The wipe dispenser 10 is configured to hold and dispense a roll 20 of disposable wipes. The dispenser 10 comprises a housing shown as a bucket 12, a cover 14, and a closure mechanism 30. The bucket 12 and cover 14 are configured to contain the roll therein. The disposable wipes may be either moistened or dry. According to an exemplary embodiment, the wipe dispenser 10 dispenses moistened, sterilizing wipes.

According to various exemplary embodiments, the wipe dispenser 10 may include wipes for a wide variety of applications, such as, for example, medical applications, industrial applications, institutional applications, or household applications. For example, the wipe dispenser 10 could be used in dispensing wipes used for cleaning and sanitizing portions of a person in a hospital, a food service facility, a medical testing facility, a nursing home facility and the like. Additionally, the wipe dispenser 10 could be used for dispensing wipes used in cleaning and sanitizing objects in a hospital such as medical equipment, examination rooms, patient treatment rooms and the like. Furthermore, the wipe dispenser 10 may be used in cleaning or sanitizing operations for hotels, public bathrooms or industrial manufacturing operations.

Still other applications for the dispenser 10 could include grocery store applications, such as, for example, the dispenser 10 could be provided adjacent to the source of available shopping carts so shoppers could clean and/or sanitize the shopping cart before use. The dispenser 10 could also be mounted in a home adjacent to a diaper changing table for a baby to provide easy access to suitable wipes to be used in cleaning a baby or the surfaces in and around the baby changing table. The applications for a dispenser 10 according the invention are near limitless: the dispenser 10 can be mounted or used anywhere ready access to a dry or moistened wipe would be beneficial.

The size of the wipe dispenser may vary depending on the intended application. For example, a wipe dispenser for a household use may be configured with twenty wipes per roll while a wipe dispenser for an industrial application, such as dairy farming, may be configured with 700 wipes per roll. According to an exemplary embodiment, the bucket 12 is configured to receive a roll of between 250-700 wipes.

Referring to FIG. 4, the roll 20 is a continuous strip of material separated into a multitude of individual wipes 22 by a series of perforations 24. According to an exemplary embodiment, wipes 22 are formed from a non-woven material. The roll 20 has a hollow center 26. Wipes 22 are typically dispensed from the center 26 of the roll 20 through the closure mechanism 30 that is removably coupled to the cover 14. According to other exemplary embodiments, the wipes 22 may dispensed from the outside of the roll 20 instead of from the center 26.

As shown in FIG. 2, the roll 20 is received in the bucket 12 (e.g., pail, tub, housing, container, etc.). According to an exemplary embodiment, the bucket 12 is an open container formed from an injection molded polymer. According to another exemplary embodiment, the bucket 12 is a 5-gallon pail. According to other exemplary embodiments, the bucket 12 may be formed from sheet metal or any other suitable rigid material.

The top of the bucket 12 is preferably closed by a cover 14 (e.g., cap, closure, lid, etc.). Cover 14 is complementary in shape to the bucket 12 and is removably coupled to the open end of the bucket 12. To create a generally air-tight seal, a sealing member such as a gasket or o-ring may be included between the cover 14 and the bucket 12. The sealing member may be provided as a separate element, or may be molded as a single integral body with either the cover 14 and/or the bucket 12. According to an alternative embodiment, the sealing member may be a coating applied to the cover 14 and/or the bucket 12. According to an exemplary embodiment, the cover 14 is semi-permanently coupled to the bucket 12 and may be difficult to remove. For example, such covers for plastic buckets are often removed by prying up on the edge of the cover with a tool such as a screwdriver.

Referring to FIGS. 2-4, individual wipes 22 from the roll 20 are extracted from the bucket 12 through an opening 16 in the cover 14. A closure mechanism 30 is removably coupled to the cover 14 and is configured to allow a user to selectively remove single wipes 22 from the roll 20. The closure mechanism 30 includes a lid 34 (e.g., closure, cover, cap, etc.) that is coupled to a body or base 32 with a hinge 36. According to an exemplary embodiment, the hinge 36 is a living hinge molded or formed as a single integral body with the lid 34 and the base 32. The lid 34 is configured to be movable between a closed position (see FIG. 3) and an open position (see FIG. 4). In the closed position, the lid 34 maintains the substantially airtight condition of the bucket 12 and cover 14. In the open position, an opening 40 in the base 32 is exposed, allowing a wipe 22 to be pulled from the inside of the bucket 12. According to an exemplary embodiment, the closure mechanism 30 has an external diameter of about 3 inches.

The lid 34 of the closure mechanism 30 is retained in the closed position with a coupling mechanism. As shown best in FIGS. 4-5, the coupling mechanism includes an inclined skirt or wall 50 that extends downward from the lid 34. The diameter of a free end 51 of the skirt 50 is smaller than the diameter of the fixed end of the skirt 50 coupled to the lid 34, causing the skirt 50 to be inclined inward, towards the center of the lid 34. The skirt 50 is received by a corresponding circular slot, groove, or recession 52 in the base 32. The skirt 50 engages an inclined wall 54 extending upward from the base 32 and defines part of the groove 52. The diameter of a free end 55 of the wall 54 is larger than the diameter of the fixed end of the wall 54 coupled to the base 32, causing the wall 54 to be inclined outward, towards the outer edge of the base 32. As the lid 34 is moved to the closed position, the free end 51 of the skirt 50 is forced over the free end 55 of the wall 54 and engages or snaps into place to retain the lid 34 in the closed position.

It should be understood that the coupling mechanism for closing the closure mechanism 30 shown here is illustrative of one embodiment only. According to other exemplary embodiments, the cover 34 may engage the base 32 with a wide variety of mechanisms or devices. For example, the cover 34 may have a protrusion that engages a recess in the base 32 or the base 32 and the cover 34 may have opposing protrusions that engage each other, or other suitable arrangement.

Referring to FIGS. 3-4, a tab 56 (e.g., protrusion, flap, lip, edge, etc.) extends outward from the lid 34 opposite of the hinge 36 and is aligned with an indentation 58 on the base 32. The tab 56 provides a surface or an edge for a user to pull upwardly to disengage the lid 34 from the base 32 and move the lid 34 to the open position.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6A-6B, a rim or lip with upper tabs 60 and lower tabs 62 extends radially outwardly from an external diameter of the base 32. The rim is configured to engage the cover 14 to removably couple the closure mechanism 30 to the cover 14. The upper tabs 60 and lower tabs 62 are provided in an alternating pattern about the edge of the base 32 such that lower tabs 62 cooperate with recesses or cutouts 18 around the circumference of the opening 16 in the cover 14. The lower tabs 62 are coupled to the upper tabs 60 on one end with generally vertical walls 64 that provide rotational stops. The upper tabs 60 and lower tabs 62 are offset vertically from one another by a distance approximately as large as the thickness of the cover 14.

Referring now to FIGS. 6A-6C, the closure mechanism 30 is removably coupled to the cover 14. The closure mechanism 30 is aligned with the opening 16 so that the lower tabs 62 are aligned with the cutouts 18 of the cover 14 (see FIG. 6A). The closure mechanism 30 is lowered into the opening 16 from an open to a closed position until the upper tabs 60 rest on the upper surface 70 of the cover 14 (see FIG. 6B) and the lower tabs 62 are positioned adjacent the lower surface 72 of the cover 14 (the lower surface being opposite the upper surface 70). The closure mechanism is then rotated so that the lower tabs 62 contact the lower surface 72 of the cover 14. With the closure mechanism 30 rotated to the closed position (see FIG. 6C), the cover 14 proximate to the opening 16 is trapped between the upper tabs 60 and the lower tabs 62, effectively locking the closure mechanism 30 to the cover 14. Walls 64 contact the edges of cutouts 18 to limit the amount that closure mechanism 30 may be rotated relative to cover 14. The closure mechanism 30 may further include locking features (e.g., detents, projections, bumps, etc.) on the upper tabs 60 and/or the lower rim portions that resist rotation of the closure mechanism 30 relative to the cover 14 to reduce inadvertent rotation and/or decoupling of the closure mechanism 30.

In operation, a user opens the lid 34 and pulls on the wipe away from the bucket cover 14. As the perforation 24 of the wipe passes through the opening 40, the roll 20 of wipes begins to tear. Once the perforation 24 is fully through the opening 40, the wipe will preferably be completely separate from the roll 20 and a portion of the next wipe will be protruding through the opening 40 for the user to grasp when another wipe is desired. If a user pulls a wipe 22 protruding from the opening 40 in the closure mechanism 30, and the wipe 22 that is grasped separates prematurely from the rest of the roll 20, the next wipe 22 on the roll 20 may not be pulled through the opening 40 and may instead fall back into the interior of the bucket 12. To retrieve the next wipe 22 from the container 12, the user may simply uncouple the closure mechanism 30 from the cover 14. The closure mechanism 30 is uncoupled from the cover 14 by rotating the closure mechanism 30 so that the lower tabs 62 are aligned with the cutouts 18 and then pulling the closure mechanism 30 upward and out of the opening 16 in the cover 14. The user may then reach into to the interior of the bucket 12 through the opening 16 to pull the end of the wipe 22 on the end of the roll 20 through the opening 16. The wipe may then be threaded through the opening 40 in the closure mechanism 30 before the closure mechanism 30 is again coupled to the cover 14. Removing the closure mechanism 30 from the cover 14 is substantially quicker and easier than removing the cover 14 from the bucket 12.

According to one exemplary embodiment, the opening 40 in the closure mechanism 30 is an X-shaped opening that comprises two intersecting slots or slits. The opening 40 may be generally centered on the base 32 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, or may be off-center, as shown in FIG. 8. While the opening 40 is shown as being X-shaped, according to other exemplary embodiments, the opening 40 may be star-shaped, circular, or any other shape that allows a wipe 22 to be pulled from the interior of the bucket 12. The size of the opening may be configured relative to the amount of perforation of the roll to ensure proper dispensing of wipes.

As shown in FIG. 8, the base 32 may include a second opening 72 according to an exemplary embodiment. The second opening 72 is larger than the first opening 40 and allows a user to reach into the bucket 12 to retrieve a wipe 22 without removing the closure mechanism 30 from the lid 14. The second opening 42 is connected to the first opening 40 so that the wipe 22 may be drawn through the second opening 42, then pulled into the first opening 40 to retain the edge of the roll 20 once the wipe has been removed. According to other exemplary embodiments, the second opening 42 may not be large enough to reach through, but may still be provided to allow a user to more easily rethread a wipe 22 into the first opening 40.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the closure mechanism 30 may be used with wipe dispensers 10 that are stacked upon one another. The closure mechanism 30 is configured to have a relatively low profile to facilitate the stacking of multiple dispensers 10 and reduce the chance of any interference between the closure mechanism 30 on a first dispenser 10 and the bottom of the bucket 12 of a second dispenser 10 stacked on top of the first dispenser 10.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the closure mechanism 30 may include a sealing element (such as an o-ring or a gasket) provided on the body 32 of the closure mechanism 30. The sealing element may be provided between the closure mechanism 30 and the cover 14 to seal the wipe dispenser 10 so that the moistened wipes 22 do not dry out.

It is also important to note that the arrangement of the wipe dispenser, as shown, is illustrative only. Although only a few embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mounting arrangements, materials, colors, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited herein. Many modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention unless specifically recited in the claims. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure as described herein. The order or sequence of any process or method steps may be varied or re-sequenced according to alternative embodiments. Other substitutions, modifications, changes, and/or omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions and arrangement of the preferred and other exemplary embodiments without departing from the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure as expressed herein. 

1. A closure mechanism for a wipe dispenser comprising: a generally circular body having a plurality of tabs located on an exterior diameter of the body and configured to be removably coupled to a wipe dispenser, the body also having at least one opening located on an interior portion of the body, the at least one opening configured to receive a wipe; a lid hingedly coupled to the body; wherein the closure mechanism is configured to be easily removed from the wipe dispenser to provide access to the wipe.
 2. The closure mechanism of claim 1 further comprising a seal provided on the body to prevent the drying out of the wipes located in the wipe dispenser.
 3. The closure mechanism of claim 1, wherein the wipe dispenser is a pail or bucket and the body is provided in a cover of the pail or bucket.
 4. The closure mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a locking mechanism configured to lock the closure mechanism to the wipe dispenser.
 5. The closure mechanism of claim 4, wherein the locking mechanism has a bump and detent configuration.
 6. The closure mechanism of claim 1, wherein the external diameter of the closure mechanism is approximately three inches.
 7. The closure mechanism of claim 1 wherein the at least one opening is a slot.
 8. The closure mechanism of claim 1 wherein the at least one opening is in the shape of an X.
 9. A cover for a wipe dispenser comprising: a cover configured to be removably coupled to a wipe dispenser; a closure mechanism removably coupled to the cover, the closure mechanism comprising: a generally circular body having at least one opening located on an interior portion of the body, the at least one opening configured to receive a wipe; and a lid hingedly coupled to the body; wherein the closure mechanism has a plurality of tabs provided on an exterior diameter of the body that are received within an opening in the cover; wherein the closure mechanism can be easily removed from the cover to provide access to the interior of the wipe dispenser.
 10. The cover of claim 9 wherein the closure mechanism has a low profile to allow for stacking of the wipe dispensers.
 11. The cover of claim 9 wherein the lid has a protrusion on an outer diameter of the lid to provide fingertip opening of the closure mechanism.
 12. The cover of claim 9 wherein the at least one opening is a slot in the shape of an X.
 13. The cover of claim 9 wherein the at least one opening is located substantially in the center of the body.
 14. The cover of claim 9 wherein the at least one opening is located off center of the body.
 15. A wipe dispenser having a closure mechanism, comprising: a bucket; a cover removably coupled to the bucket; a closure mechanism removably coupled to the cover, the closure mechanism comprising: a generally circular body having at least one opening located on an interior portion of the body, the at least one opening configured to receive a wipe; and a lid hingedly coupled to the body; wherein the closure mechanism has a plurality of tabs that are received within an opening in the cover; wherein the closure mechanism can be easily removed from the cover to provide access to the interior of the bucket.
 16. The wipe dispenser of claim 15 wherein the closure mechanism has a low profile to allow for stacking of the wipe dispensers.
 17. The wipe dispenser of claim 15 further comprising a seal provided on the body to prevent the drying out of the wipes located in the wipe dispenser.
 18. The wipe dispenser of claim 15 further comprising a locking mechanism configured to lock the closure mechanism to the wipe dispenser, wherein the locking mechanism has a bump and detent configuration.
 19. The wipe dispenser of claim 15 wherein the at least one opening is located substantially in the center of the body.
 20. The wipe dispenser of claim 15 wherein the at least one opening is located off center of the body.
 21. The wipe dispenser of claim 20, further comprising a second opening located on the interior portion of the body, wherein the second opening is connected to the first opening. 